


Choices

by Hammish



Category: Original Work
Genre: Angst, Angst and Tragedy, Assisted Suicide, F/M, Flirting, Heavy Angst, Hurt No Comfort, Laboratories, Murder, Vampires, Warehouse
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 06:14:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25788673
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hammish/pseuds/Hammish
Summary: Parting is such sweet sorrow. Love cannot overcome a vampire’s bite.
Relationships: Vampire Hunter/Vampire Hunter
Kudos: 1





	Choices

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Thanks for checking out my story! Although this isn't fanfiction, I hope you enjoy it!

_Scratch. Scratch. Bang!_

The sounds echoed throughout the old warehouse, a constant reminder to its two occupants that death was a likelihood on the other side of the towering, concrete walls. They huddled together behind the decaying crates that had been abandoned with the building, drawing comfort from each other and the fact that they were alive.

After several tense minutes, the pounding finally ceased. They tentatively released their hold on each other to examine what supplies they had left. The battle, after all, was far from over.

The woman examined her silver pistol.

“That was the absolute worst time for a weapon malfunction,” she said, matter-of-factly, breaking the encroaching silence.

“Hey, the religious tattoos worked though… and you said they were just a silly superstition,” the man said playfully.

“I stand corrected. Hey, have any ammo left?”

“Enough for another round. I’ll accept a date as payment for them.”

She looked up, playful brown meeting calculating green. 

“Really, Ash? We are trapped in a warehouse by vampires, and you are asking me out on a date? Didn’t we go out to dinner before we left?”

Before he could bite back a retort about love and war, his gaze flickered to her torn and blood streaked shirt. His face hardened. 

In a hushed voice that sounded too loud to his own ears, he asked, “Mara, did you get bit?”

She turned away, “Ash, it—“

“ _You did_.”

“Yes.”

“We need to get back to headquarters right now. They’re the only ones who can help you if you turn.”

Mara’s face filled with panic; her eyes widened, and her breathing came in short gasps.

“No… NO. Not headquarters.”

“Why? You should know better than anyone that they help. You worked in the labs after all.”

Mara tensed. She wanted to forget those years; they weren’t anything to be proud of like Ash thought. Just the word “lab” thrust her back into a sea of terrible memories: flashing teeth, so-called ‘weapons,’ the recently turned former hunters writhing across cold tile floors in unspeakable pain, and the unfeeling eyes of her fellow scientists watching their unfortunate comrades, taking note of how ineffective one method was or how the subject died too quickly. When she had seen the opportunity to escape with a job in the field, she had jumped at the chance. Then she met Ash…

Ash was still waiting for answer.

“Ash, how many of those sent to the labs ever returned to the field?”

He paused, considering her question carefully, “There is supposed to be that one… David was…. I can’t think of anyone.”

“The vampires are bad – that is something everyone can agree on – but headquarters is almost worse. The experiments they do in those labs, the experiments _I_ did in those labs, they’re just as despicable as the vampires. Headquarters doesn’t care if you were once a hunter. Once you’re turned, you’re turned. They just use you until you die, alone and in unspeakable pain.” She paused to breathe. “I swear on all of the fallen, if you take me back to headquarters, I will hold it against you forever!”

“Mara, what are we supposed to do? Becoming one of them isn’t much better…”

Ash sank to his knees, his long auburn hair cascading over his face, hiding his tears. Mara walked over to his diminished form and pulled him into a hug. She took a deep breath, knowing that this would not make things any easier on him. He would probably never forgive her, but it was their only option. She wasn’t going to make it.

“Kill me.”

He looked up, speechless. He hoped that he had misheard. 

“What?”

“Kill me.”

“Mara?”

“What are our choices? Wait until I turn and bite you? Headquarters?”

“I won’t be able to live with myself.”

“I won’t be leaving this warehouse alive. You still have the chance to do something great. Don’t give it all up for me. I know I’m asking a lot of you, but do you really want to see me like those _things_ outside?”

“No, you’re right,” he painfully admitted.

“What do we have left weapons-wise?”

“A round of bullets, a pistol, a few knives, a stake-“

“Use the stake. Those are ineffective in battle, and you’ll need the rest to get out of here.”

A dull hum began to grow at the back of her mind; the effects of the bite were beginning to take place. Her time was running out faster than she thought. She gave Ash a look. It was time. She laid back on the unforgiving concrete floor and stared at the flickering lights. As much as she wanted to look at Ash, she knew that would only make this harder.

He did it quickly, not wanting her to suffer. The coarse wood went right through her heart.

As the light in her eyes began to fade, she smiled up at him, “Parting is such sweet sorrow.”

Death overcame her before he could respond.

Ash tried to choke back a sob in vain. He wept for Mara, for their lost future, and the world. This was happening because of the vampires, but he would never return to headquarters. Not after what Mara had told him.

Ash gently ran his hand over Mara’s face, brushing her lifeless eyes closed so that she could sleep eternally. He avoided looking at the offending object that took the place of her heart.

Standing up, he prepared for the battle of a lifetime.


End file.
